A man identified as Daniel, a psychiatric patient from the community "El paso de la bola" in Mayarí, Holguín, was found this Tuesday lying by the side of a road, naked and in a state of obvious malnutrition.
The complaint was posted on Facebook by the activist native to that territory, Adry Díaz, who received the photographs from a horrified eyewitness who was shocked by what she found.
According to the publication, Daniel lives alone and has no close family to take care of him. The complainant states that he would have gone out in search of help, but his physical deterioration brought him down before he could reach any destination.
"It seems he went out seeking help, but in the condition he is in—God knows how long that unfortunate soul has gone without food—he collapsed by the side of the road and was still alive when the woman who sent me the photos saw him and horrified, called for help," wrote Díaz.
The complaint is explicitly directed at the Municipal Directorate of Public Health of Mayarí. Adry Díaz justifies turning to social media with a phrase that summarizes the widespread distrust towards institutions: "We all know that going to the government to report this atrocity is pointless."
Regarding Daniel's institutional abandonment, the complainant was direct: "the system that promised to protect him has clearly abandoned him."
The case is not an isolated incident in Mayarí. The Mártires de Mayarí Teaching Hospital received serious complaints in 2025 regarding elderly patients who were naked, malnourished, and tied to beds.
In February 2026, local authorities acknowledged four deaths at that center in a single day, after a viral report had circulated in the days prior claiming that 14 people had died on that day.
In June of this year, the deterioration and neglect of the Mayarí hospital was reported again, with complaints regarding the lack of windows and medications.
The pattern repeats across the Island. In September 2025, reports of beatings and neglect were made at the Psychiatric Hospital of Camagüey, with patients tied up for hours and receiving inadequate food.
In June 2025, a patient at the psychiatric center "El Viso" in Santiago de Cuba, died amid accusations of neglect and hunger. In January of the same year, a young man who escaped from the Holguín Psychiatric Hospital stated that he had fled due to hunger and lack of care.
Behind these cases lies a structural crisis in medication. In July 2025, the Minister of Public Health acknowledged that only about 30% to 32% of the essential drug list was available in the country, including essential antipsychotics such as risperidone, lithium, and valproate. This leaves thousands of patients with mental illnesses without treatment and in a state of extreme vulnerability, both inside and outside institutions.
Adry Díaz concluded her post with a phrase that encapsulates the outrage of those witnessing this reality: "This is the silent genocide that the Cuban people are facing."
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